Computer networks have become indispensable tools for modern business. Enterprises can use networks for communications and, further, can store data in various forms and at various locations. Critical information, including confidential, proprietary, or other sensitive data, frequently propagates over a network of a business enterprise. Moreover, even in a small computer network the amount of objects (e.g., data files, software files, etc.) containing such information can rapidly increase to enormous proportions, making the task of manually controlling such information impossible. Accordingly, modern enterprises often rely on numerous tools to control the dissemination of such information and many of these tools attempt to keep outsiders, intruders, and unauthorized personnel from accessing valuable or sensitive information. Commonly, these tools can include firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and packet sniffer devices. Nevertheless, obtaining knowledge of the amounts, locations, and types of confidential, proprietary, or otherwise sensitive data in a computer network is often a time-consuming and laborious task.
The ability to offer a system or a protocol that provides an effective data management system, capable of securing and controlling the movement of important information, can be a significant challenge to security professionals, component manufacturers, service providers, and system administrators alike.